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New Glarus Brewing – Two Women Lager

THOUGH TWO WOMEN’S promotional copy begins with tantalizing allusions to the ancient brewing traditions of Sumerians, Vikings, Medieval Ale Wives and such other ‘artisanal women’, the beer itself is rather less august. As yet another German-style pilsner from New Glarus, it’s also a bit of an anachronism since pilsners—much less any top-fermented beer—weren’t widely brewed until the mid-19th century. So there’s that.

However, the larger point of the collaborators’—New Glarus president Deb Carey and Weyermann Malting chief Sabine Weyermann—holds true: that men dominate as beer producers and consumers in the modern age, leaving female-led breweries like New Glarus, New Belgium, and Lost Coast a distinct minority. Thankfully, one of the craft beer revolution’s numerous positive side effects (at least anecdotally) is the corrective trend of this imbalance. The drivers behind this are worthy of greater discussion in another arena, not least one with more qualified participants on hand (i.e. women), so a reflection on the beer itself must suffice for now.

Tasted after the Hometown Blonde, it’s difficult not to think of Two Women on a purely relative basis, especially since the two have such similar footprints. Positioned further along the spectrum towards standard lager, Two Women’s mark is deeper overall, though a little less well-defined. Boasting a deeper yellow, nearly amber color and a stronger backbone, largely courtesy of the Weyermann Bohemian malt, its flavors are slightly sweeter, less peppery, and with a bit of cream in the finish instead of hop sparkle. Carbonation is on the lighter side, too, and the head peters out shortly. Thus the beer’s smooth impression doesn’t last too long after the swallow and the beer ends up listing to the side a bit unconvincingly. Perhaps a third woman from the hop industry might have completed a trifecta?